IPOH: The Education Mnistry has allocated RM19.09mil this year for the maintenance of Tamil national-type schools (SJKT) with government-aided school (SBK) status nationwide.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the amount was an increase from the RM18.15mil allocated to all SJKTs that applied last year.
“For Perak alone, SJKTs received RM4.43mil this year, up from RM4.13mil in 2024. All allocations for SJKTs will be used by the schools to carry out necessary maintenance and improvements,” he said when met after the presentation ceremony for the SBK maintenance allocation at the Kinta Utara District Education Office here on Saturday (Aug 24).
Earlier, Wong presented RM810,000 in allocations to eight SJKTs in the Kinta Utara district at a ceremony which was also attended by State Human Resources, Health, Indian Community Affairs and National Integration Committee chairman A. Sivanesan.
Wong said the increase in the allocation for SJKTs demonstrated the government’s commitment to enhancing school infrastructure to provide a safe, conducive and comfortable environment.
Meanwhile, he said there was no need to close any Sekolah Kurang Murid (SKM), or schools with low enrolment, as they continued to serve educational needs and remained central to their communities.
Wong said that several measures had been introduced to ensure SKM remained relevant, with more structured management that did not affect children’s access to education.
“For example, we will maintain SKM in the same location if it is essential and provides the only access to education, despite having only three students a year.
“We are also taking the approach of merging Year 1 and Year 2 classes, as well as Year 4 and Year 5, if an SKM has fewer than 30 students,” he said.
On April 15 last year, Wong said 3,038 schools nationwide were categorised as SKM, adding that several policies had been formulated by the ministry to streamline their operations.
He said the relocation of SKM would only be a last resort, subject to technical considerations and requiring cooperation from various quarters.
“This term takes into account the relocation from the original site to a new location. However, it depends on the needs and the area available for school construction. It is quite technical and requires the involvement of various parties,” he said.
Wong said the efforts showed the government’s seriousness in addressing SKM issues without affecting children’s right to education, including in remote areas. – Bernama
